Safari enjoys 'unusually residential' December boost

Use of Apple's Safari browser grew in December to 7.93 per cent, up from 7.13 per cent in November, suggesting a parallel growth in adoption of Mac OS X, according to browser-usage figures released today by internet-analyst Net Applications.

While use of Apple's browser is growing, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is sinking: down to 68.15 from 69.77, according to an article in Electronista, which also states that IE has been "on a continuous decline since the beginning of 2008."

Before Mac fans get too cocky, however, they should note that Electronista also cautions that "browser use during December was unusually residential", and home usage is where Macs have been gaining most of their market share due to the oft-touted iPod and iPhone "halo effect".

And although IE remains by far the dominant browser for surfing ex-Senator Ted Stevens infamous "series of tubes," Redmond has another competitor nipping - albeit gently - at its heels: Google's Chrome passed the one-per cent threshold, accounting for 1.04 per cent of browser usage in December.